Merry Christmas!

Wow, I have slacked off with this blog this year. I'm sitting here at work today and the phones are really slow. It's ok because it gives me time to admire my little Christmas tree and nativity on my desk at work. It also gives me time to update my neglected blog.

 

 

It has been a good year and a lot has happened. I'm not going to try and catch up here, I guess you can jump over to facebook to get some updates or just talk to me

 

Last Saturday we had our family party to kick off the Christmas season. I made gingerbread for 15 houses with the help of my sister and my niece. It was lots of work but it was worth it. We all had fun decorating and loading the gingerbread with candy!

 

 

My gingerbread house...complete with a string of lights (thanks to an idea found on Pinterest)

 

 

Of course we had Christmas cookies too, yum!

 

 

We also had a nice dinner, a talent show and then a white elephant gift exchange. It got a little crazy passing all of those presents!

 

 

I got some of the kids to pause long enough for a picture

 

 

This week I have made a few batches of toffee to share with friends. It's a family favorite and it's so yummy! It's a good thing I only make it once a year.

 

 

This week my Christmas cactus bloomed for the first time too. So pretty!

 

 

I'm thankful for the Christmas season. There is so much about the season that I enjoy but I especially love Christmas music. This week I keep thinking about the words to God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, in particular the words 'tidings of comfort and joy'. Knowing that Jesus was born and completed His mission as the Savior of the world truly is a tiding of comfort and joy! I also enjoy spending time with my family celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

There are lots of good things happening in my life and I feel blessed. I'm looking forward to 2015. I'll try to do better with posting on my blog. I didn't send out many cards so here is a copy for those that didn't get one in the mail. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

 

Alfajores!

Tonight I had fun at a Relief Society activity (the organization for women in my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka the Mormons). In my ward Relief Society we are blessed to have members that have been all over the world for various reasons and tonight some of them shared their stories. Several people brought food from countries that they have been to as well. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I went. 

Now for the best part! I wanted to bring something to share but I really didn't have time to make anything. So I went to walmart and stumbled on this fabulous find! I bought Keebler butter cookies and dulce de leche, I already had the coconut. 

Simply spread the dulce de leche between 2 cookies, squish them together and roll the edge in coconut and you get the most amazing alfajores I've tasted since I was in Argentina on my mission! 

They were a hit tonight and everyone kept asking me for the recipe. Well they probably thought I was some great baker but the truth is I just went to walmart.

A shout out to my BAS friends...you really need to try these. Yum!

Significant but Subtle Blessings

It's been a week since it happened. Last Tuesday night I walked into the laundry room to put a load of laundry in the drier and my first soggy step let me know something was terribly wrong. I looked down to find about 2 inches of water covering the floor and it was rising! I got the wet vac out of the closet and prayed hard that I wouldn't get electrocuted when I plugged it in, standing in water and reaching for an outlet is terrifying (or just dumb). I sucked up the water and hauled it outside as fast as I could. It was a smelly mess (I later found out it was sewer water, yuck!) I got the water cleaned up the best I could but then I had a problem, I couldn't use the shower or toilet or anything! Luckily the bathroom upstairs still worked ok. A plumber came the next day and cleared out the main sewer line. After the plumber left I cleaned more than I ever have and then I cleaned again! I didn't know what to do about the carpet that got wet though so I just used towels to soak up as much water as I could. I figured I would let my cousin make the decision about what to do with the wet carpet when she got home from her vacation since it's her house.

Wednesday night I went visiting teaching to a sister I had only met a few times at church. I count it as a significant but subtle blessing (like Elder Bednar talked about in the October 2013 general conference) that she happened to have one of these

a carpet cleaner

She let me borrow it and I was able to get the water sucked out of the carpet and clean it. I had a fan blow on it for a few days so now the carpet is dry, the smell is gone and it's just memories that remain. That night as I drove home with a carpet cleaner in the backseat of my car I was overwhelmed by the love I felt from my Heavenly Father. It wasn't just a new friend loaning me a carpet cleaner that made me feel that way but Heavenly Father chose that moment to let me know I'm loved and heal some of the hurt that's been in my heart for a while (but all of the reasons behind those feelings are too personal to express on a blog). Some people might call it luck that I just happened to meet someone who had a carpet cleaner on the very night I needed one. I consider it a blessing.

We often receive significant but subtle blessings that are not always what we expect and easily can be overlooked....a loving Heavenly Father had bestowed simple blessings in seemingly ordinary ways.

Elder David A. Bednar 

The Windows of Heaven

October 2013

Happy New Year!

Recently I saw the movie The Book Thief and it made me remember just how blessed I am. I'm thankful that I have a relatively peaceful life, a knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a good job, a loving family, friends and so much more! 

December was a busy month! I stayed with my parents for a few days during the Christmas holiday. On one of the days we had a gingerbread party, a tradition we haven't done for a few years. 

The hardest part for the kids was waiting for the sides to set on their houses.

Everyone was so creative and we ended up with some great houses!

          

   

Here's my dad watching the making of our gingerbread village.

I also made some yummy gingerbread cookies

 While we were all together we celebrated the family birthdays that are in December.

  

Of course Baby G stole the show and everyone wanted to hold him. 

How can you resist that adorable face!

             

After the gingerbread party I went to BYU with Jeanie and Tori where we saw the beautiful exhibit called 'Sacred Gifts'. It's a one of a kind exhibit that contains two dozen beloved paintings of the life of Jesus Christ by three European master painters from the late19th century: Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hofmann, and Frans Schwartz. Most of the works have never before been on view in the United States and probably will never be here again. It was inspiring and was a wonderful way to ponder the life of the Savior during the Christmas season. I'm glad I could go see it.

On Christmas Eve we gathered for dinner
and once again baby G was the center of attention.

  

We also had fun watching the train around the Christmas tree

 

Our nativity play included a cast list thanks to Grace, our awesome director!

 

It was beautiful to read the Christmas story together and remember Christ, the reason we were celebrating.

 

Christmas morning we had our traditional breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls with bacon and hot chocolate. It was a yummy treat!

We had some fun opening gifts after breakfast. Then we spent a while on the phone talking with our family. We had a relaxing day and home. It was a wonderful Christmas!

    

 The month of December was also filled with the BYU family Christmas party, seeing the movie Frozen, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert, going to my first sing-a-long of The Messiah with the Utah Symphony and chorus, seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Leonardo in SLC, performing with my ward choir in a regional concert, seeing the lights on temple square, Christmas parties, and many other fun activities with family and friends! I also had fun ringing in the new year at Eve 2013 in downtown SLC.

  

We enjoyed a white Christmas since December was very wet and cold. I love looking at the snow though, I think it's beautiful. I especially like this view of the pine trees in the park by where I work.

 I also enjoy winter sunsets. I captured this picture of Timpanogos where the sunlight on the snow makes it look like the mountain is on fire!

 

This year I only sent Christmas cards to my parents, siblings, aunts and uncles. I included the words to one of my favorite Christmas songs on the card, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. I included a picture of the card here so you could read the poem.

 The year has passed quickly and I'm looking forward to 2014.

Happy New Year!